Category: empowerment

Got Grace?

While we strive to have “Fierce Faith,” we know there may be some off-days ahead. Days where you are tired, sad, restless, anxious – just not feeling yourself. And despite our unprecedented pandemic circumstances, you can be tough on yourself.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a world-class champ when it comes to beating up on myself. I’m definitely harder on myself than I am on anyone else. So, on the days when I fall a little, where I’m anxious or restless, or even flat-out angry, I need to remember one word: GRACE.

We are all going through difficult times right now, and although most of us have been shelter-in-place for a bout a month now, there’s still this sense of no routine, of being off-kilter. The world hasn’t righted itself and we still don’t have a complete sense of normalcy, or what a “new” normal might look like.

Currently, I’m trudging along day-to-day, but everything feels “off.” There’s a sense of uncertainty in the air, and it’s uncomfortable, at best. So, yes, we’re going to have bad days, that’s a given. We’ll have mood swings for no apparent reason, and maybe even take out those moods on our spouse or family.

But that’s where our daily prayer time can come in – just a moment or two of quiet time (I know, those of you with small kids will find this nearly impossible). We need to take time daily to center ourselves, and every day we need to extend GRACE, not only to others, but to ourselves.

These are strange days, and our emotions may surprise us or get the better of us. Just let it go (yes, I’ve watched “Frozen” one too many times with my granddaughters!). Extend grace to others, but mostly to yourself. Take a deep breath and begin again.

 

The Burden of Unforgiveness

The link below is a video follow-up to last week’s post on “The Weight of It All.” (Text is below the video, if you only want to read). Just so you know, my father-in-law is a very wise man.

Image by Tereza Flachová from Pixabay

Find out more with this video link.

Here’s the text from the video:

Hi everyone.

Last week on TalkingAmongFriends.com, we talked about “The Weight of it All”, whether you were carrying around the weight of a mistake that you made in your past or the weight of shame across your shoulders. Well, my father-in-law saw that post. He’s a very wise man. And he commented that the greatest weight is the burden of unforgiving. And I completely agree with him.

If we hold a grudge against someone else, it’s not them we’re hurting. It’s us. We carry that around. It takes so much energy to stay angry at someone. And you’re carrying that on your shoulders – they’re not carrying it.

Then, if there are times when you can’t forgive yourself, what kind of weight is that on your shoulders? We’ve all made mistakes in the past. Some of us are carrying long term consequences from those mistakes, but it doesn’t mean you have to keep dragging them around. It’s how you live right now, today, that makes a difference.

Everyone can be forgiven. God will forgive you. Even if you’re not a Christian, He’s still there. All you have to do is ask Him for forgiveness, and He will. And then you can shed that weight from your shoulders.

Put down the shame of the past mistake. Forgiveness is the key. The time is right now. It’s the perfect time to start. Here. Today.

So, do it.

 

 

How Are You Talking To Yourself? (Video plus text)

The link below is to a video about how we talk to ourselves, whether we’re negative or positive.  If you don’t have a few minutes to watch the video, the text of it is also below.

Video Link: How Are You Talking To Yourself?

Video Text:

There’s a subject that keeps coming up in different ways and I think it’s time to talk about it. We’re a culture these days of  “It’s all about the outside”. Women are striving to have a youthful appearance, have the perfect hair and the perfect body. Men don’t want to be balding or have the beer belly paunch. There’s nothing wrong with looking the best we can. But when we start obsessing over it, I think that’s where it can lead to trouble.

Let me ask you a question: How do you talk to yourself? When you look in the mirror in the morning, are you making a face? Are you beating up on yourself for not having perfect hair or, being the perfect weight? Are you chiding yourself because those pants don’t fit any more? Look at these lines on my forehead!

Listen to your words. Are you in a cycle of negativity about how you speak to yourself, and about how you see yourself? Are you picking on yourself?

When I started thinking about this for me, I realized I made a lot of jokes at my own expense. You know, I’ll make a joke about my bad hair day or my chubby thighs. And the more I paid attention, the more I realized how often I did that, how often I belittle myself, even through a joke. And I shouldn’t be doing that. I am God’s child. He created me.

I wish we could see ourselves the way God sees us. It doesn’t matter that we’re not the perfect weight, whatever that is. Or the most beautiful person in the world, whatever the definition of beauty is. Or the perfect size, whatever that is.

Are you looking at culture’s definition of beauty? Or are you looking at God’s definition of beauty? There’s a big difference there.

I am not perfect. But I am a unique creature. I am God’s daughter. And it’s okay for me to have my gray hair, and to have laugh lines, and yeah, even to have chubby thighs. But it’s not okay for me to belittle myself or to shoot myself down. You wouldn’t do that to your best friend, so why would you do to yourself? Why would you do that to God’s creation?

We’re going to talk more about this in down the road, but for the next week or so, do me a favor. Listen to yourself as you talk to about yourself. Are you belittling yourself? Are you in a cycle of negativity? If you wouldn’t say it to your best friend, don’t say it to yourself.

Watch your words. Try to get into a cycle of being positive. Take care of yourself. And we’ll see you next time.

Motivation – Or Lack Thereof

(Before we get started, I’m also blogging over at www.LearnHowToWriteaNovel.com about the 3 D’s of Writing – somehow these two blogs are related).

Okay, for today,  let’s talk about motivation. We all need motivation to exercise, eat better, and for me, to also write every day.

And everyday, either in my devotional reading or on social media, I see all kinds of inspiring quotes that seem like they were written just for me. They get me fired up, and I say Yes, that’s me, and then I’m encouraged to do my best each day.

But then, inevitably, there comes a day where you wake up, and you know you’re not feeling it. You’re somewhat cranky, or you just want to shut out the world. The quotes and memes that so inspired you fly from your head like they never existed. Motivation has fled the scene.

So, then what? How do you move forward when all you want to do is watch mindless television and eat popcorn with peanut M&M’s?

You can go two ways with this:

  1. Sometimes you do need a break. You need to sit back and rest and rejuvenate. If you’re not at your best then you won’t deliver your best.
  2. But more often than not, we need to find a way to push through it. Move forward. That may mean breaking down tasks into even smaller pieces and slowly start to get things done. When you move forward, then your momentum and motivation might find you.

Today is one of those days for me, where motivation has fled the scene. I didn’t wake up in a bad mood, but I didn’t wake up with a smile either.

So, I’m going to put item #2 to the test today. Break things down and find a way to move forward when in reality, popcorn, M&M’s and movies I’ve seen a hundred times before are calling my name.

If I can get going, then I know I’ll feel better and feel like I accomplished something. Sitting with my popcorn won’t make me feel better, it will probably make me feel worse.

And by writing this blog, I’ve already accomplished one thing! I haven’t written in several days (due to being sick mostly), so this will help me get back on track. Hopefully, by getting some of these thoughts out of my head, I can look to the next step I need to take and what else needs to be done today.

I’m stronger than my lack of motivation. (Does that make sense?) On mornings when I wake up in a blah mood, I need to remember that. Perhaps that’s the best inspirational quote I can keep in mind — I’m stronger.

What about you? How do you find motivation when it has gone away? I’d love to hear from you.

Have a great productive day, everybody!